Work being done on a coquina wall at the Castillo de San Marcos can be seen, surrounded by an orange fence, on the left side of this aerial photo taken on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012. By DARON DEAN, daron.dean@staugustine.com

Repair has begun for a centuries-old coquina wall at the Castillo de San Marcos that was damaged when a truck slammed into it in May.

That area of the wall was already scheduled for repair because it was beginning to tilt, said Jon Burpee, chief of interpretation at the fort.

Construction on the Castillo de San Marcos began in 1672 and repairing the fort can be painstaking because officials stay true to history by using original techniques and materials.

“Our mandate is to preserve it forever,” Burpee said. “We take that very seriously.”

The wall has been roped off since May. Police say that on May 14 a St. Augustine man was driving north on Avenida Menendez when he veered off the road and through the fort’s parking lot before hitting a corner of the retaining wall.

Overall, about 70 feet of the “covered way wall” is being repaired. The wall, which stands next to a slope of earth, was given its name because it allowed people to move around outside of the fort during battle while remaining shielded from enemy fire.

In early November, National Park Service staff began removing the coquina blocks one by one, keeping track of where each one came from, Burpee said. Other than the few blocks that will be replaced, the stones will be put back in the same spot.

The replacement stones are made from the coquina found in local quarries, Burpee said.

Archaeologists tested the site to make sure that the historical integrity of the ground would not be harmed in the repair process.

John Cornelison, project archaeologist with the National Park Service, worked with City Archaeologist Carl Halbirt to complete the excavation.

“We went in there and assessed the part they were taking down,” Cornelison said.

The project allowed them to gather historical information about the fort.

Archaeologists found a few ceramics and some animal bones around the bottom of the wall. They also found that the blocks were built straight up without a wider base, which could mean the builders “probably didn’t expect it to be here 350 years later,” Cornelison said.

Burpee said that by looking at the soil, “archaeologists can see the different time periods that the soil was filled in there.”

Cornelison said he will prepare a report of the findings for the National Park Service.

Now, officials are ready to begin the hardest part: rebuilding.

“Any repairs we’re doing we’re aiming to last as long as the Spanish,” Burpee said.

Park Service employees plan to start replacing the stones next week, said Kim Mayo, chief ranger at the Castillo de San Marcos.

The blocks will be held together with lime mortar, which historically was used. It’s made by the fort mason today. Between the 1930s and 1970s, the Park Service made repairs with portland cement but switched back because the lime mortar works better with coquina.

“Really what the Spanish used was better than any technology that we could come up with today,” Burpee said.

While this project was a little more extensive, repairs to the fort happen frequently.

The covered way wall repair does not have a deadline. Officials will take as long as they need to do it safely, but they will probably finish in February, Burpee said.

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More info about the fort

Construction began on the fort in 1672 and ended in 1695. However, additions were made in the 18th century. Still, a “vast majority” of the fort is original.

Considering stone fortifications, “It is probably the most intact of anything from the 17th century.”

Officials estimate that about 400,000 coquina blocks were used in the construction of the Castillo de San Marcos. Each block was brought from a local coquina quarry and shaped on site.

Blocks vary in size and can weigh up to hundreds of pounds. The first stone was placed 340 years ago.

“I essentially look at the Castillo as one of the coolest LEGO sets you could imagine.”

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section as it was already leaning,, so the truck operator's insurance can claim minimal liability,, and thus only pay a portion of the repair.. primarily where the truck struck the fort... as for the rest of the repairs,, entrance fees would be used to make needed repairs, that were scheduled ,, they simply got pushed up due to the accident,, and the insurance,, if any,, had to be hashed out...>>>yathink